News & Publications

PSC’s Bridges Supercomputer Extended by NSF

National Science Foundation Awards $1.9 million for Extra Year of Operational Funding

Aug. 27, 2018

PSC’s groundbreaking Bridges supercomputer will provide value to the research community for an additional year, extending operations through November 2020, thanks to $1.9 million in added operational funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The new award, which will fund mostly staff positions, brings the total funding for Bridges to over $19 million. NSF awarded the original grant for Bridges to begin in December 2014.

PSC-Led Conference Brings Experts and Students in Advanced Research Computing to Pittsburgh

July 30, 2018

The PEARC18 conference, held in Pittsburgh, Pa., closed on July 26 after five days of tutorials, plenary and contributed talks, workshops, panels, poster sessions and a visualization showcase.

The annual Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC) conference—with the theme Seamless Creativity this year—stressed key objectives for those who manage, develop and use advanced research computing throughout the U.S. and the world.

“We are happy that our efforts resulted in a very strong technical program,” said Sergiu Sanielevici of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, General Chair of PEARC18. “Participants shared comments such as, ‘The tutorials this year were terrific-my staff and I will share with everyone when we get back to campus.’ and, ‘The papers were very high quality, I had a hard time choosing sessions, all were of high interest and important to my work.’”

PSC Role in IceCube Cosmic-Ray Neutrino Detection

July 12, 2018

Four billion years ago, the incredible energy of a massive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy—a blazar—created a cosmic ray particle. As part of that process, it also formed a high-energy neutrino and a shower of gamma rays. In September, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica detected that neutrino. Combined with detections of gamma rays at collaborating institutions across the world, a series of IceCube neutrino detections provide solid evidence that cosmic rays derive from vast collapsed stars as they eat the material of their resident galaxies. The IceCube collaborators recognized these neutrinos for what they were thanks in part to a series of simulations they previously ran on the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center’s Bridges system.

HERMES Public Health Modeling Software Released for Public Use

User-friendly software that can advance vaccine supply chain decision making is now available

April 23, 2018

Public health experts at the Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) have released their HERMES (Highly Extensible Resource for Modeling Event-Driven Supply Chains) supply-chain modeling software for public use. The user-friendly HERMES software will enable decision makers and other stakeholders to analyze supply chains of vaccines and other medical supplies to make them more efficient and reliable.

Paola Buitrago has been appointed as the founding director of the Artificial Intelligence & Big Data (AI&BD) Group at PSC. The group expands the scope of the center’s activities to enable research through the convergence of AI and high-performance computing (HPC). Buitrago’s vision amplifies PSC’s emphasis on data-driven discovery and strengthens PSC’s connections across CMU and the private sector.

PSC Launches AI & Big Data Group

April 6, 2018

PSC has a strong history enabling artificial intelligence (AI) research at scale. AI advancements at PSC include Never Ending Language Learning (NELL), led by CMU’s Tom Mitchell and William Cohen, on PSC’s Blacklight system and the 2017 history-making victory of Libratus, led by CMU’s Tuomas Sandholm, over the world’s top human poker pros on PSC’s Bridges system. Recognizing the vast strategic importance of AI to science and society, PSC has created a new Artificial Intelligence & Big Data (AI&BD) Group, directed by Paola Buitrago.

Phil Blood Appointed Sr. Director of PSC’s Computational Biology Group

April 6, 2018

Phil Blood, widely recognized for his contributions to national genomics and molecular dynamics communities, has been appointed senior director of PSC’s Computational Biology Group. In his new position, Blood is responsible for PSC’s strategy across the life sciences, overseeing the Biomedical Applications and Public Health Applications Groups and also working more broadly to expand PSC’s contributions to this vital research segment.

PSC Launches Computational Biology Group

April 6, 2018

To unify its research efforts and strategic planning in computational biology and public health, PSC has launched a new Computational Biology Group. The senior director of the new group, Phil Blood, will oversee PSC’s Biomedical Applications and Public Health Applications Groups.

Jason Sommerfield Appointed Director of PSC’s Facilities Technology Group

April 6, 2018

Jason Sommerfield has been appointed director of PSC’s Facilities Technology Group, succeeding J. Ray Scott. In his new position, Sommerfield will be responsible for leading the deployment and operation of high-impact resources for computation and data analytics serving national communities.

Events Calendar

Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

PSC is a joint effort of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Established in 1986, PSC is supported by several federal agencies, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and private industry and is a leading partner in XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment), the National Science Foundation cyber-infrastructure program.